Unrequited Love
by ModernScribe
Summary: He knew he loved her. She knew she loved him. They just didn't know it yet.


**Disclaimer: If I need one, I obviously don't own it.**

**Spoilers: Minor. Mostly they are just references to add humor. It kind of gives away the ending, but anyone who's seen the trailer can guess that anyway. It's a **_**romantic**_** comedy for goodness' sake! What kind of romantic comedy doesn't end with a kiss and a happy couple? **

**Warning: No innuendo, but it does reference a certain line of the film that for some people could be a little awkward. You should also know that this is written in narrator omniscient. It may feel like it changes POV, but believe me when I say it doesn't really. Just go with it, okay?**

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**Unrequited Love**

Some people say that love happens in an instant. That all it takes is a glance across a crowded room or a glimpse through a car window. That when you meet the person you are meant to be with, time stops.

Obviously they were wrong.

From the moment Andrew Paxton met Margaret Tate, he hated her. He hated how she was always ordering him around, treating him like he was merely a part of her office décor. He hated how she was always so uptight, so controlling. He hated how she was so sure she was right and everyone else was wrong. He hated her, he really did.

Isn't it strange how you can hate a person so much that, eventually, that hate surpasses the realm of pure hatred and moves into a realm of… something else? For some, this is a realm of insanity. For others, it is a realm of bliss brought on by a restraining order. And for a select few, it is a realm of love.

And so it was with Andrew.

Over time, (a long time) the hate he had for his boss changed to love. At first he didn't realize it. He didn't know why he refused to quit even when his family begged him to every single day. He didn't know why he put up with all the abuse and midnight tampax runs. But he did, and one day he knew why.

Unfortunately, his boss didn't. All she knew was that she had a strangely willing and obedient slave at her bidding. Meanwhile, her slave suffered from that serious affliction, the worst kind of love there is, the one that almost kills its victims: unrequited love.

And then one day, his boss did the one thing that he'd dreamed of for who knows how long. She asked him to marry her.

Andrew was under no illusions that she loved him— the very idea was laughable considering she was the world's only living heart donor— but it was still a dream come true, of sorts. In his dreams, however, he was not facing five years in prison with a hefty fine and a felony charge.

Still, he agreed to marry her. Perhaps he thought that he could one day convince her to love him. Or maybe he just wanted to irritate his father. For whatever reason, he agreed.

Margaret, still blissfully ignorant of her assistant's almost pathetic and certainly pitiable situation, believed his story of acting purely out of ambition, not feeling.

And this was how Andrew preferred it. The only thing worse than unrequited love is having the object of one's affection aware of one's affliction. It would not do for her to know that while pretending to be put out and bothered by the situation, he was in fact enjoying it. Having spent so many months pretending, acting had become more natural than breathing and he had become rather good at it.

Never did he think that his boss might be a better actor than she appeared as well. Not that she was aware that she was acting.

Like Andrew, Margaret's feelings towards her assistant had changed so gradually that even she was unaware of the situation.

She was not sure why she ordered him to work late on weekends. She was not sure why she always wanted him close by. And she was certainly not sure why, when faced with imminent deportation, she had latched onto him as her only lifeline to America and demanded that he marry her.

And then one particular day, in one particular barn, in one particular dress, she realized why. She loved Andrew and there was no way Andrew loved her back. Why would he when she would make a trip to Antarctica feel like a vacation in the tropics?

So she left.

And he brought her back.

The interesting thing about love is that it is always changing. The love one has for a friend can change into the kind of love one feels for a lover. In turn, the love one has for a lover can change into the kind of love one feels for a friend. And sometimes, unrequited love can change into requited love.

And so it was with Andrew and Margaret. Eventually.

Some people say that love happens in an instant. That all it takes is a glance across a crowded room or a glimpse through a car window. That when you meet the person you are meant to be with, time stops.

Obviously, they were wrong.

Love doesn't happen in an instant; that's just how long it takes to know it's there.

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**A/N: I just watched **_**The Proposal**_**. Although I thought it was a wonderful film, it irritated me slightly that they seemed to fall in love so quickly and that Andrew sacrificed himself for her with so small a reward. I decided they must have loved each other before and not have realized it, hence the story. As I was writing this, I had a flash to the beginning of the film **_**The Holiday**_** where Kate Winslet's character can be heard reciting a monologue on the meaning of love. In case you didn't pick up on it, one of my signature imbedded quotes is from there. You'll have to guess where the other one is from. **


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